Battlestar Olympia
by vercettiman
Summary: Two Stars of Battle, One will find Earth, the other will find the Promised Land....Olympia has returned! New chapters will be up by September 1!
1. A New War

Battlestar Olympia

Episode 1-A New War

"The history of the Twelve Colonies following the Armistice is a bright one. Huge advances were made in space technology, former backwater worlds such as Aerelon and Tauron were transformed into economic juggernauts, and the Government began reform programs that abolished poverty and ensured a bright future. The last things on anyone's mind were the Cylons."

_-A History of the Twelve Colonies, Chapter 6, Page 18_

"The Battlestar Olympia served honorably in the last war, but its time has come to a end"

_-President Adar_

As the Battlestar Olympia sat at the ceremonial landing pad in front of the massive Fleet HQ on Picon, the ship looked as if it was brand new. But as the crew would tell you, it was extremely outdated. Its sister ship, the Galactica, was to be turned into a museum in space. The Olympia was to become a land museum. Commander James Hermes, the last captain of the Olympia stood in front of the ship. He was the last crew member left, the rest of the crew had left for their new assignments yesterday. He was getting his last look at the ship, in about 2 hours, it was going to be swarmed with construction workers turning it into the Olympia Fleet Museum. "Just my luck," Hermes muttered to himself. "I serve the fleet for 35 years and all I get is news that my ship is being decommissioned and I'm getting a desk job. He turned around and walked away, towards the city, and a bar. He needed to get a drink.

Fire. Burning. That's the first thing Hermes saw as he ran out of the bar. He looked to the right and saw a mushroom cloud. "Oh Lords of Kobol…." Hermes said breathlessly. He knew he wasn't hallucinating; he'd only had one beer. He heard footsteps. He looked to the right, and saw a blonde woman running towards him. She ran up to him, but oddly she was not out of breath. "Are you alive?", the woman asked him. Hermes thought that was a very odd question to ask, but considering Picon was getting nuked by someone, he didn't blame her. "Yes, I'm alive!", he said. "What's going on!" The woman turned and looked at the mushroom clouds in the distance. "The Cylons have returned." Whatever nerve Commander Hermes had, he lost it right then and there. "Oh Lords of Kobol…", he muttered. He was a Colonial Commander. He needed to get back to Fleet HQ. He turned to run back to the gigantic headquarters. The blonde woman grabbed him. "Don't leave me!", she yelled. Hermes thought for a second, then grabbed her and ran towards HQ. No use letting the woman die.

Hermes stood with the woman in the cavernous Combat Information Center of HQ. Several hundred people were gathered there, listening to what was happening to the Colonies…Caprica and Aerelon had been completely destroyed…Tauron had fell under the gun…Hermes' homeworld of Sagittaron was also being nuked…his thoughts were interrupted by alarms going off. "Radiological alert! It's an inbound missile! Six minutes to impact!", a officer behind a monitor yelled. "We need to get out of here, now!" A idea struck Hermes. What if they used the Olympia to get to a safer planet? Hermes walked over to the officer. "Who is the commanding officer here?", he asked. "I am. Captain John Argus., sir." Hermes grinned. "Actually, I am. Commander Argus. I want you to get these people together and get them to the Olympia." Captain Argus balked. "Sir, I don't think it will fly! The work crews might have deactivated the engines, sir!" "I don't care. Better die trying to get out than to die sitting here. Get these people to the Olympia immediately!"

They had managed to get most of the people out when the missile struck. The ground shook as if there was a earthquake, and searing heat spread thorough the building. Hermes sprinted towards the Olympia, but was knocked down by the shockwave. He got up and sprinted to the entry ramp. He got in and was instantly lifted into the ship. He hurtled past refugees and soldiers into the CIC. Apparently the work crews hadn't done much work at all, as the CIC was still operational. The CIC was fully staffed, and Captain Argus stood in front of the Dradis console, awaiting Hermes. Hermes stopped and took the salute from Argus. "Good news Argus, I'm giving you a field promotion. You're the Ex.O now. Now get us off of the planet." Argus looked stunned. "I thought you couldn't do those, sir!" Hermes shook his head angrily. "Screw protocol. I'm the commanding officer on this ship and Im giving orders. Now go! And get pilots together in the launch bay. I believe we still have our Vipers…."

The Olympia was in space. Surprisingly, the ship was still operational, and it was now racing away from the burning planet of Picon at top speed. They had managed to stay undetected by the Cylons, but Commander Hermes doubted that would last for long. As he sat in his quarters, he finally was impacted by the day's events. He laid down on his bed and punched it, overcome with anger. For the umpteenth time however, he was interrupted by a PA announcement: "Commander Hermes, please come to the CIC". As the Commander got there, he was greeted by a harassed looking Captain Argus. "Sir, we just received reports of a Cylon Basestar slipping out of a jump in front of us. And that's not all. They've spotted us and are launching Raiders." Commander Hermes shook his head. "Lords of Kobol….."

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Hermes, the Messenger of War

Battlestar Olympia

Episode 2-Hermes, the Messenger of War

As the Basestar appeared, the Olympia jumped. No need getting into a fight when you had little ammo. After a few hours, Hermes went to sleep.

Commander Hermes lay on his bed, sleeping. It wasn't a restful sleep though. He'd been having nightmares of people burned to death, decapitated. Quite a few of the dreams also involved the blonde woman he had saved on Picon. Finally, he woke up, breathing heavily and sweating. He looked at the clock on his desk. 0450 hours. He'd had better get up and get ready for reveille. After a shower, he got dressed and walked to the CIC. Along the way, a young officer, maybe about 20 fell into step alongside him. "Good Morning, sir. Captain Thomas Vier, sir. I guess I'm the new CAG aboard this ship, sir." Hermes looked at Captain Vier. "Welcome aboard, Captain. I think you'll find that our Mark V Vipers will get the job done for you. As a matter of fact, in the CIC, you'll find a folder containing today's mission and sorties. I'd like to get them started by 0830 hours, but I'll be willing to let it slide a little, considering many of our pilots are injured or exhausted." Vier nodded. "Yes sir. I suppose I should read the folder before reveille." Hermes laughed. "Yes, I suppose you should. That will be all, Captain." He accepted Vier's salute and walked into the CIC. He was again greeted by Captain Argus, who looked slightly better than he did the previous day. "What's been happening?", Hermes asked. Argus shook his head. "Well, apparently nuclear bombardment has ceased in the colonies…we are still fighting…apparently the Battlestar Hercules and its strike group have been holding out about Aerelon for several hours, and several Cylon landing ships have been shot down during an aborted landing attempt on Geminon. On a bad note, Admiral Nagala was killed; his ship, the Battlestar Atlantia was destroyed over Sagittaron. We don't yet know who has taken control of the fleet…we've heard reports that Commander Adama is the leader of the fleet, but we don't know where the Galactica is, so therefore we should just assume that we, the Hercules and maybe the Galactica and our respective support ships are the remainder of the fleet, sir." The Commander took all of this in, thought for a minute and then responded. "I believe that we and the Pegasus are the only Battlestars left. I personally think the Galactica's already been destroyed, so we shouldn't waste our time trying to find it. Try to contact the Hercules. We're going to go try and save it." Captain Argus nodded and turned to the Petty Office in charge of communications, Lila Rusel. "Rusel, try to shoot off a beacon signal to the Hercules." Rusel turned to the beacon controls. "Yes sir," she said and started punching in buttons on the console. "Battlestar 56 Hercules, this is Battlestar 89 Olympia. Please respond." After a few seconds, a light flashed. Rusel pressed another button and a voice came through. "Battlestar 89 Olympia, this is Battlestar 56 Hercules. Glad to hear a friendly voice. We've lost most of our strike group..we need to get out of here!" Rusel spoke into her microphone. "Don't worry. We're going to help you." Commander Hermes walked over to her. "Give them our coordinates and tell them and any other FTL capable ships to jump to that location." Rusel repeated his directions and then bade the Hercules good luck. "Now lets see if they can make it", Hermes said to himself.

A few minutes later, the unmistakable shape of a Battlestar and several ships reappeared in space and headed for the Olympia. The Hercules looked battered, and there was smoke trailing from several engine pods, but Hermes had seen worse. He immediately got onto the beacon frequency with the Hercules. According to the Commander of the Hercules, Commander Luson, the Hercules had 75 Mark VII Vipers, and about 25 Mark V's. As the Hercules needed repairs, the Vipers would be transferred to the Olympia, and would stay there until the Hercules was repaired and it could finish de-networking its computer systems; it had started when it was attacked, and that was why it had survived as long as it had. Captain Vier looked out of the observation deck and looked at the procession of Vipers flying into the hangar bay…100 new Vipers…100 new pilots….100 better chance of beating the toasters. As for the Hercules and its support ships, several of the ships needed repair, but they were nothing compared to the Hercules. Its engine pods, already damaged, were completely blown following the FTL jump. They had to vent some of their compartments into space because of fire, and food supplies were dwindling. Commander Luson was in favor of just blowing the Hercules up, but Commander Hermes said he had a use for the Hercules. Could that be the reason why two Raptors went over to the Hercules a hour ago? Vier thought so, but the project was apparently top secret. As for the crew of the Hercules, they were safely on the Olympia or other ships, again leading Vier to think the ship was going to be blown up. An alarm went off all of a sudden. Vier got up and ran to the CIC. There, he found Commander Hermes and Captain Argus standing in front of the DRADIS console. He walked up to Hermes. "What's going on, sir?", Vier asked as he gave a salute. Hermes turned to look at him. "Cylon Basestar. Probably the same one we tried to lose over Picon." Vier nodded. "Should we launch Vipers?" Hermes nodded. "Go ahead and launch, but don't go for the Basestar, just handle the Raiders." Vier saluted. "Yes sir!" Around the ship, the PA announced, "All pilots get to the hangar bays. Condition one." Vier got into his Viper, and launched. One by one, all 135 Vipers on the Olympia launched. They got into a wall formation and flew over the Hercules. Immediately, the Cylon Raiders launched from the Basestar, and engaged the Vipers. Explosions all around. Vipers and Cylon Raiders went up in balls of flame. Some Mark VII's stalled-They weren't de-networked in time. All of a sudden, the Hercules came out of nowhere and rocketed towards the Basestar. The toasters apparently realized what was going to happen, but the Hercules smashed into the Basestar. Both ships went up in a gigantic fireball. The Cylon Raiders, with nowhere to go, were quickly wiped up. Several managed to jump, but they weren't important. Vier turned back and landed on the Olympia. He was satisfied, but unfortunately, 32 pilots had died…but he guessed he would have to get used to loss….they were now probably the last humans alive…he walked into the CIC. "Nice job, Captain!", exclaimed Hermes., returning Vier's salute. Vier smiled. "Same to you, sir. That was brilliant, using the Hercules as a bomb. How did you get it to fly at the basestar?" The smile on Hermes face went away. "Commander Luson flew it…I tried to stop him…but he said he wanted to die a hero…he was the one who destroyed the Basestar…." Vier looked down. "I'm sorry sir…" Hermes looked at him. "At least it was a small victory for us…revenge for what they did to our colonies…Luson died a hero." Vier nodded, and saluted , then turned and walked away.

Hermes stood over the map with Argus. The plan was to try and find the Galactica…apparently they had gotten a message from Commander Adama telling them to go to Ragnar Anchorage…Ragnar was six days away at sublight..and they were trying to conserve fuel, so they would not execute a FTL jump. Hermes looked up…he was now the commander of a fighting force 12,000 strong…and as he learned, a leader of 7,000 refugees as well…he was Commander Hermes…the leader of peace..and the messenger of war.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. The Woman Named Six

BATTLESTAR OLYMPIA

EPISODE 3: THE WOMAN NAMED SIX

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Battlestar Galactica_ in any way, shape or form.

"The Cylon Wars were devastating to the Twelve Colonies. We can only speculate as to what would happen if the Cylons were to attack again."

_-A History of the Twelve Colonies, Chapter 6, Page 30._

_The Twelve Colonies have been destroyed. Through sheer luck, Commander James Hermes and a group of soldiers and survivors escape the planet Picon on the Battlestar Olympia, a ancient ship which was meant to be decommissioned. They encounter the Battlestar Hercules, another Colonial Battlestar which survived the opening attacks. However, the Hercules is destroyed in a suicide attack on a Cylon Basestar. The fleet receives a message from Commander Adama telling them to regroup at Ragnar Anchorage for a counterattack…._

Hermes stood on Picon. At least it looked like Picon. He looked around, looking for a familiar landmark. He saw Fleet HQ in the distance. He started walking towards it. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash, brighter than the sun. All of a sudden, he felt the air heating up..it was getting hard to breathe….and then he saw the blonde woman from Picon, burning, screaming.

With a shout, Hermes woke up. He looked around for a second, then exhaled. It was only a dream. He'd been having these dreams for five days, now…maybe he'd have them for the rest of his life. He looked over at his clock. 0100 hours. He rolled over, but sleep wouldn't come. He finally decided to get up, get dressed and head down to sick bay. When he arrived there, he found the ship's medic, Sgt. Atara, who had taken on the role of the ship doctor. "Do you have a young blonde haired woman in here, Sergeant?" asked Hermes, not caring how blunt or odd the question sounded. "Yes, sir. She's been in here since the attacks," said Atara as she gestured over towards a bed near the back of the room. "She's suffering from radiation poisoning though, so she may not be up to conversation, sir. The odd thing is that she's only showing one symptom of poisoning. The others haven't appeared yet. Also, she's been like this for five days now, while many of the other patients have nearly recovered." Hermes nodded and walked over to the bed. It was the woman he saved on Picon, but she looked extremely gray and clammy. Nonetheless, she was still beautiful. "Can you hear me?" Hermes asked. The woman opened her eyes and slowly nodded. "Can you talk?" The woman looked at him for a second, and then opened her mouth. "Yes..," she said weakly. Hermes allowed a small smile on his face. "Now we're getting somewhere. I am Commander James Hermes, captain of the Colonial Battlestar _Olympia_. I saved you on Picon. The woman looked puzzled for a second, and then smiled. "Yes, I remember. Thank you, Commander. Maybe it was God's will that you saved me." She sat up." Maybe God decided to start over with the human race and we're the new beginning." In his mind, Hermes was becoming a little suspicious, but decided to play along for the time being. "The medic says you're suffering from radiation poisoning. You'll be out of here once we can be sure that the radiation is out of your body," Hermes said. He was about to continue when he heard over the P.A. system, "_Commander Hermes, please come to the CIC. Commander Hermes, please come to the CIC._" "Well, it appears that I must leave now, but I'll come back later," Hermes said, smiling. The woman returned his smile. "I look forward to it." Hermes turned and left. The blonde woman was still smiling. "If that's the commander, then sending this ship into a sun won't be too difficult..," the woman said to herself. As Hermes passed Atara, he quietly said to the medic, "Don't let her leave this room. I'm sending a security guard to this room to help you."

As Commander Hermes walked into the CIC, he was approached by the newly promoted Colonel Argus. Argus saluted. "Good morning sir. We are currently 18 hours from Ragnar at best speed, sir." Hermes returned the salute. "Have we been able to reach the _Galactica_?" Argus shook his head. "We've tried, but we've been getting a lot of static. It may have to do with magnetic storms in the area, sir." Hermes nodded. "So what's up, Colonel? Why was I called down here?" Argus turned to the DRADIS screen in the center of the CIC. "A Colonial freighter, the _Thebes_, is requesting to join the fleet, sir." Hermes nodded. "Where are they coming from?" Argus turned to him. "They say that they were unloading some freight on one of Tauron's moons when the attack happened. They made an emergency jump, but damaged their FTL drive in the process. They just happened to jump close to us, sir." Hermes nodded. "Petty Officer Rusel, patch me in to the captain of the _Thebes_." Rusel nodded. "Colonial Heavy 348, _Olympia_ actual wishes to speak to you." A tinny voice came in over the radio. "_Colonial Heavy 348, understood._" Hermes put on a radio headset. "Colonial Heavy 348, this is _Olympia_ actual. What is your ship's status?" "_Colonial Heavy 348 here, we have 30 injured workers, and about 100 refugees from the moon. Requesting permission to dock with Olympia in order to unload injured people._" "Colonial Heavy 348, permission denied. Hold position in fleet, and we will send several Raptors out to ferry wounded to _Olympia_. _Olympia _actual out." Hermes took off the headset, and Rusel cut the connection. Hermes looked at Argus. "Can I talk to you in private?" Argus nodded and followed Hermes to a secluded corner of the CIC.

"Colonel, I'm getting a little suspicious about someone aboard this ship," said Hermes. Argus looked puzzled. "Who is it, sir?" Hermes nodded. "A blonde haired woman that I saved on Picon. She's having a serious reaction to the radiation, while other patients have recovered by now. Also, she keeps talking about this God, and the last time I checked, humans worship the Lords of Kobol. I don't know what's up, but I'm not liking it so far." Argus nodded. "I agree, sir. It sounds pretty odd to me. Should I send security guards to sick bay?" Hermes nodded. "That's exactly what I had in mind." Argus nodded. "I will send guards right away, sir." "Very good, Colonial. Also, make sure to keep an eye on the _Thebes_. Dismissed," Hermes said. Argus saluted and left.

Security Officer Thomas Strath felt a little confused as his security team and he walked towards sick bay. He'd been told by Colonel Argus to keep an eye on this blonde woman in sick bay, but he hadn't been told why. He'd also been told to shoot to kill if this woman tried to attack them in anyway, but how could a woman possibly hurt a security team. He walked up to the door of sickbay, and opened it. He jumped back as the bloody body of the ship's medic, Sgt. Atara fell onto him. Atara was dead, there was no doubt about that. He looked up just in time to see a blond woman in a hospital gown grabbing hold of one of the guard's heads and snapping his neck like a toothpick. Strath couldn't believe his eyes. He aimed his weapon and began shooting at the woman. The woman quickly dashed behind a scanning machine. Strath ran out of bullets, and began to reload quickly. However, the woman quickly darted out from behind the scanning machine, ran up to him and knocked him down with a devastating kick. Strath started screaming. He'd never been in real combat before, and was just becoming aware that he'd just wet his pants. The woman looked ready to deliver the finishing blow, but then decided not to and ran off down the hallway. Strath got up, ran to a red button on the wall in sick bay and pressed it. Hopefully that woman, or whatever she was, would be stopped.

Hermes bolted back to the CIC as alarms blared. As soon as he entered, Colonel Argus approached him. "Sir! There is a distress alarm in sick bay!" Hermes swore loudly. "Set condition one throughout the ship!" Argus picked up a phone and pressed a button on it. "_Action stations, Action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill. Action stations, Action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill._" "Where was the last location of the woman?" Hermes asked. Argus looked at a sheet of paper. "Cameras show her near….damn! She's headed towards here, sir!" Argus turned to the DRADIS screen, then whipped around to face Hermes again. "Sir! Multiple enemy contacts launching from the _Thebes_, sir! It's a trap! The ship's a carrier for Cylon Raiders!" Hermes shook his head, realizing what it all meant. "Launch the alert fighters. And alert the security teams that we have a Cylon loose aboard this ship."

TO BE CONTINUED……..


	4. The Homeworld

BATTLESTAR OLYMPIA

EPISODE 4: THE HOMEWORLD

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Battlestar Galactica_ in any way, shape or form.

"It is not known where the Cylon homeworld is, or if one exists. It is speculated that it is located several lightyears from the Twelve Colonies, or that the Cylons colonized Kobol. No one knows for sure, and a human would likely not want to find themselves on a Cylon-inhabited world."

_-A History of the Twelve Colonies, Chapter 5, Page 31._

_As the Olympia and the fleet make their way towards Ragnar, Hermes goes to visit the woman he saved on Picon. But, as he soon finds out, this woman has a secret that could literally destroy the ship: She is a Cylon. At the same time, a freighter who had just joined the fleet begins launching Cylon Raiders. On the ship, the Cylon woman is on a rampage…._

She had a purpose. A single reason for her being. And that was to get to the center of the human ship, this so called "Battlestar". So far, it had been extremely easy. It seemed that after 40 years, these humans just didn't learn. But of course, she had to be on the defensive, because even though the humans were inferior in intellect, they had their moments of brilliance, no matter how infrequently they happened. As she dealt a devastating right hook to a so called "security officer", she couldn't help but think about what Aaron Doral had said to her back on Picon-"Don't underestimate the humans. They are most dangerous when they are fighting to survive." She wanted to laugh. Doral never was much of a fighter. He preferred to use words and mind games, but if there was one thing that she, Cylon Number Six knew, the only way to deal with the humans was with force.

Captain Thomas Vier had always loved the rush of adrenaline. From his days on Caprica, to his days at the Fleet Academy, to his tour of duty on the _Olympia_, he loved that rush. But there was such a idea as having too much of a good thing. Nowhere was that true than now, as he piloted his Viper, trying to pick off the toasters, and trying not to get picked off. He weaved and bobbed through Vipers and Raiders alike, then once he got a Raider in his sights, he'd pull the trigger and the Raider would go up in a huge explosion, so bright that it hurt Vier's eyes. As he destroyed another Raider, he turned towards the _Thebes_, checking if any more Raiders were being launched, then received a nasty shock to see a huge ship slowly lower out of the cargo bay of the _Thebes_. He slowly realized what it was-a Cylon Heavy Raider. He looked again. Yes, it definitely was a Heavy Raider, which could only be a bad thing. Before Vier could get on his radio and warn the other pilots, the Heavy Raider began launching a hail of missiles, and Vier quickly spun his Viper around and took off back towards the battle. Yes, he thought, he didn't like _this_ adrenaline rush.

Commander James Hermes had faced a lot of dicey situations in his 40-plus years in the fleet, but this had to be the worst situation that he'd ever been in. Not only was there a Cylon aboard, killing his men and making her-or its way towards the CIC to do gods-know-what kind of damage to the ship, but there were Cylon Raiders out in space, killing his pilots and trying to make their way towards the ship and the fleet to do damage. Not exactly a win-win scenario. Vier's voice came in over the intercom. "Archer to _Olympia _actual!" Hermes grabbed a headset and put it on. "_Olympia _actual here!" "Reporting one Cylon Heavy Raider launching missiles!" An alarm sounded and Colonel Argus turned and looked at a panel on a nearby console. "Sir! Radiological alert! Those missiles are nukes, sir!" Argus shouted as he turned to face Hermes. Hermes nearly swore out loud, then got a hold of himself. "Where are they headed?!" Argus looked at the DRADIS screen. "Sir, three inbound towards this ship, seven towards our support ships. CAG reports that the Vipers are unable to intercept missiles." Hermes grimaced, then switched his headset to the ship's P.A. system. "This is the Commander. All hands, prepare for nuclear impact. I repeat, all hands brace for nuclear impact."

Seconds later, three missiles struck the _Olympia_. One struck its port landing pod, one struck the front end of the ship, and one struck right in the middle of the ship. There was a bright flash. Aboard the ship, people were knocked over, lights went out, crew members who were near the impact points who survived the explosion were sucked out into space through the gaping holes in the middle, side and front of the ship.

As Number Six approached the door leading to the control center of the Battlestar, she heard a loud explosion and the entire ship seemed to shudder violently with the impact. Good. At least the Heavy Raiders made a distraction. As soon as the shaking died down, she walked up to the heavy blast door, and opened it, only to be greeted by a hail of bullets from some security guards. She was knocked off her feet with the impact. As she lay on the ground, she saw blood seeping along the floor. No matter. She had to complete her mission. She slowly got to her feet, only to be knocked down by more gunfire by the advancing guards. She looked to her right and saw her target, a console just feet from her. She turned and crawled towards the console. She grabbed hold of the top of the console, and entered in coordinates. She found a key on the side of the console, took it and put it into a slot in the middle of the console, then pressed a button on the console. She then smashed the console with her fist, so the humans couldn't interfere with her handiwork. She could hear yells of, "She's doing something with the FTL drive!", and "Stop her!", but she didn't care anymore. She had completed her mission. Number Six the Cylon slid down off of the console and lay there. She was beginning to succumb to the radiation poisoning and her wounds. She'd be in another body soon, safely on a Basestar. The humans would not be so lucky….

Colonel Argus looked up at the DRADIS screen. On the screen read: FTL JUMP COUNTDOWN: 00:30. "Damn! She's sending the ship on a jump, and there's nothing we can do about it..," he said ruefully. Hermes looked at Petty Officer Rusel. "Lila, can you find the coordinates?" Rusel ran over to the smashed FTL console. "No sir! She, or it smashed the entire console. We're making a blind jump!" The clock counted down….

Ten….

Commander Hermes thought of his family back on the Colonies..or what was the colonies….

Nine….

Captain Vier listened to the radio chatter, and realized that he, 60 other Vipers and several ships were going to be left in space…

Eight…..

Number Six smiled up at the ceiling. God's will was being done.

Seven…

Rusel looked up at the console, silently praying that they wouldn't jump into a sun.

Six…

Colonel Argus shook his head. The Cylons had won, he thought.

Five…

Security Officer Thomas Strath looked around at his comrades. It might be the last time he ever saw them again.

Four….

Three….

Two….

One…

The _Olympia_ jumped away in a flash of light. The remaining Vipers and ships were now alone in space, under attack by Cylon Raiders. Vier snapped back to the battle at hand. He destroyed the last few Raiders left, and then destroyed the fleeing Heavy Raider with a couple of missiles. He then swung his Viper around to face the _Thebes_. "Colonial Heavy 348! Surrender immediately, or we will destroy you!" A voice came in over the radio. "_Archer. I will surrender, but I should let you know that your only chance of finding the Olympia lies with me._" Vier froze in shock for a second. How did this person know his call sign? "Who are you?!" Vier demanded. There was no response for a second. "_My name is Captain Leoben Conoy, and I'll lead you to the Olympia, if you'll let me. Obviously, I'm a Cylon,_"-"WHAT?!" Vier screamed. Now he knew this man was lying-the _Olympia _was destroyed, and if he followed this Conoy man, or Cylon, or whatever, he'd be leading the remainder of the fleet to destruction also. He began to ready his missiles and weapons-"_so the choice is up to you. Either you can trust me-or destroy me. If you destroy me, My consciousness will be transferred to another body, I'll tell the others where you are and you'll be easy pickings for a Basestar. If you follow me, I promise you that you'll survive._" Vier scoffed. "And why should we follow you, toaster?" Leoben laughed over the radio. "_Because it's God's will, and it's the only way you'll survive._"

The_ Olympia _emerged from the jump. Hermes looked up. They hadn't jumped into a sun, or a black hole…but where were they? The entire deck erupted into cheers, but became quickly muted, as if the crew was thinking the same thing. His question was answered by a voice yelling over the ship radio. "COMMANDER! THIS IS THE VIEWING DECK OFFICER. I DON'T BELIEVE IT-WE'RE OVER A PLANET!" Hermes went rigid with shock. He couldn't believe it. He picked up the headset. "What planet?! Could it be one of the Colonies?" he said into the headset. "No sir! It's nothing like I've ever seen before! It's all lit up…like one huge city!" Hermes shook his head. "I'm coming down there." He took off the headset and put it down. He began to walk out of the CIC with Colonel Argus, when he heard a wheezing noise. He turned to see the Cylon looking at him, with a smile on her face. She looked like she was using up the last of her strength. "Styx…..," the Cylon said, "Styx….." she then slumped over and her eyes closed. Hermes stood there. What did Styx mean? "Security. Get a team up her to take the Cylon to the airlock," Hermes said, then turned and left the CIC.

As Hermes walked into the viewing deck, he saw dozens of people standing, looking at the planet. It was the most amazing thing Hermes had ever seen. The entire planet surface was covered with webs of light. It did look like an enormous city. This didn't look like any of the Colonies at all. He heard several people begin screaming. He looked up, and saw at least 20 Basestars begin to approach the ship…maybe this was the end…a gruff voice began speaking on the ship's P.A. system…an oddly familiar voice "Ah…the Colonial Battlestar _Olympia_. I must say, when you took out our Basestar aboard Picon, I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously you humans are slightly more intelligent than I thought you were." Hermes walked over to the nearest phone and picked it up. He dialed in the code for the CIC. "CIC. Rusel here," came the answer. "This is Commander Hermes. Patch me in to the radio." "Yes sir," was Rusel's reply. "To the commander of this ship: I'd recommend that you surrender. I'm sure you don't want to die, and I don't want you to die." "I see we are outgunned. I will surrender on one condition, Cylon: Tell me who you are, where we are, and what you plan to do with us," Hermes snapped. The voice laughed. "Well…we want to observe you…we haven't seen you in 40 years...and who am I? Well….I suppose I can say that…I remember you from a long time ago…" "Just tell me!" spat Hermes. "I am Cylon Grand Admiral Saul Tigh, commander of the Arrow of God, the Cylon Fleet, and I'd like to personally welcome you to Styx, the homeworld of the Cylons."

TO BE CONTINUED…..


End file.
